After playing on different sides of the ball his first two seasons, UCLA redshirt junior Nate Iese, seen during practice April 2, is enjoying his second straight season at fullback. (Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer)

In what feels like a first in his UCLA career, Nate Iese isn’t undergoing an offseason position change.

He was a defensive end who was recruited to Westwood as an outside linebacker, who eventually converted to a hybrid “Y-receiver,” to fullback. Positions can be difficult to label in this offensive scheme, but he had his best season yet as a Bruin in that last spot, starting nine games and catching 12 passes for 70 yards.

“It was a little fresh for me,” Iese said. “Different position than I was used to playing, but I felt like I was more natural there.”

At first glance, it’s not immediately obvious why the redshirt junior hasn’t put up bigger stats. He began his career as the model of efficiency, a red-zone weapon who turned three of his first seven catches into touchdowns. He’s now 6-foot-3, 255 — 10 pounds heavier than last spring — but looks just as fluid and natural in the open field.

In an alternate universe, Iese might be a star tight end. But offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone runs a scheme that doesn’t rely heavily on tight ends or fullbacks. To label any Bruin as such is a nonbinding proposition.

One play might call for him to line up and block for a tailback, something Iese said he improved significantly last year. Another might require him to swing out as an H-back. And if UCLA is trying to keep the tempo up, it might slide him into the slot instead of subbing in a smaller receiver.

Running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu gradually expanded Iese’s role last season, and the player expects that trend to continue.

“I’m getting a lot of good looks,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “I’m a mismatch, so I think they take that into recognition. They allow me to run a lot more routes and get a lot more opportunities, especially in the red zone.”

Mazzone, who once compared the player to a “five-carat diamond in Arkansas,” concurred with that projection.

“I think his volume in the offense will go up,” he said of Iese. “He’s learning to play inside the box there. … He’s in there a lot. We’ll work on the ability to also move him around into different spots so he’s not always sitting in that fullback spot.”

One player Iese has watched on film is Julius Thomas, the former Denver Broncos tight end who has made the last two Pro Bowls. Both needed time to find the right spot; a former basketball player, Thomas didn’t play collegiate football until his senior season at Portland State in 2010. That year, he made 29 catches for 453 yards and two touchdowns, becoming an all-conference selection and an eventual fourth-round pick.

Iese likely isn’t heading for such a dramatic breakout. The Bruins have a deep group of receivers, and there are only so many targets to go around in their egalitarian passing game. UCLA hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Jim Mora’s staff arrived before the 2012 season. Last fall, seven players recorded at least 23 catches — but only two had at least 30.

So if at some point, the team sees a part-time role for him back on defense, Iese will be happy to oblige.

“Anything that gets me on the field, I’m excited about,” he said. “If they told, ‘Hey Nate, we want you to rush off the edge a couple of times,’ I’d be like ‘Hey, all right.’”

Injury report

Offensive tackle Simon Goines returned to action in full Thursday after resting through a portion of team reps a day earlier. The lineman missed all of the 2014 season recovering from a history of leg injuries, but said this spring he is feeling healthier than he ever has at UCLA.

Running back Craig Lee also participated after suffering what appeared to be a pulled hamstring. Receivers Alex Van Dyke and Mossi Johnson were still sidelined through the Bruins’ 90-minute, no-pads session with minor leg injuries.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.

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